Category Archives: Great Places to Shoot

Lybra at GEN-Neutral

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Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage

GEN-Neutral is open again with several great creations. The remit for GEN-Neutral designs is to produce gender neutral designs. Things that appeal to both men and women, that can be worn by both men and women. How that is being interpreted varies. There’s a fair number of unisex items such a jeans and tee shirts. There are also several poses, decor and furnishing. All of which tells me that there is a struggle recruiting clothing designers who can get a handle on the idea of multi-gender design over unisex design.One artist who did not struggle, though, was Lybra Rage. She produced leggings and tops that men and women can proudly and beautifully wear.
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Las Calaveras de Glam Affair

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Glam Affair Dia de los Muerto

This month’s Collabor88 will open at midnight with an exciting theme centered on the delightfully macabre Burtonesque palette and mood board. I am sure there are some people in the world who do not like Tim Burton’s work, but they are probably unhappy. I headed off to Deadman’s Island, a haunted sim with a beautiful ghost ship. I think Tim Burton would like it a lot.

I think Tim Burton should do a film about las calaveras, the happy, delightful sugar skulls that mark the celebration of All Saint’s Day in Mexico. The Day of the Dead is not Halloween, in many ways it is the opposite of Halloween. After all, Halloween focuses on fear of the dead and the Mexican celebration of el día de los muertos is a welcoming visit with the much beloved dead. Families visit the cemetery and spend the day with their dead, leaving ofrendas (offerings) such as food and wine and the lovely pan de los muertos. They also will place photos and even a soap, mirror and razor so the dead can freshen up for the coming year.

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Beautiful Devoré

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People will stare. Make it worth their while.

Baiastice has released a stunning dress with a gorgeous devour skirt. I love how it goes from opaque to sheer and how the hem is cut away to follow the pattern of the stamped print. It comes in gorgeous colors and I was at a loss which one to wear until I decided to wear a hat – and finding the hat made my color choice for me.
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We have a need for enchantment

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“We have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”

I am reading The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen. I think I will have to just buy this book and return the copy I am reading to the library. Like Wendell Berry, Jensen’s book is too rich in subject matter to just read. It will be one I want to go back to again and again. I am reading it slowly, pausing after each conclusion or big idea to think. The underlying theme is that by viewing our world as an object to possess and exploit instead of seeing it as this living, breathing subject whose existence is vital, we become alienated from the world and all sorts of other ills are natural consequences of treating everything as an object to own. The writing is beautiful and powerful and full of ideas that I want to remember. He wrote that ““we have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”
I think this is true. Wonder and awe are thinks we yearn for and they are most often found outdoors in the natural world.

“We have a need for enchantment that is as deep and devoted as our need for food and water.”

There is wonder, too, in Second Life®, at the beautiful worlds and stunning landscapes of our virtual world. It is less powerful, but no less real. There is no fresh, brisk breeze with the restorative power of fresh air, but there is the calm and soothing joy of beauty. Take a walk at The Trace Too and the sights and sounds will entrance you. Now if only they could produce virtual fresh air.
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Heartfelt

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it can restrain the heartless
Sanura Snowpaw made a heartfelt plea for help yesterday, one that was difficult for her to do because most of the time, she is the one answering the pleas of others. It is always hard for the givers to ask for help. But she is not asking for herself, not really, she is asking for her dog Kassie who needs an expensive surgery.

Of course, she is doing her part, too, putting everything in her store Somnia on sale at half price in hopes that folks who like her clothes will come and stock up, taking home twice as much and injecting some much-needed lindens to help take care of her dog. Since she always sells her items with a texture change hud with 8 colors, that is 90 lindens for 8 colors of this sweater and 90 lindens for 8 colors of this skirt. Seriously, even if you do not care about the dog, you should spend, spend, spend just to stock up at half off on wardrobe basics. Since she makes appliers, you can also get all your layering basics too.
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That’s how the light gets in

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“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”

I love the music of Leonard Cohen. I have a playlist I love of Leonard Cohen covers and know nearly all his songs by heart. One of them, Anthem, is one of my favorites because although on one level it despairs of the world; it also calls us to act with hope. “Ah the wars they will be fought again.  The holy dove, she will be caught again, bought and sold and bought again. The dove is never free.” It is true, endless wars are a constant stream throughout history,  started by governmental leaders,  the “killers in high places who say their prayer out loud.”

But then there is the chorus.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

Ring the bells that still can ring acknowledges that as bad as it is, there are still some things that you can do. Don’t let excuses stop you from doing what you can. “Forget your perfect offering” reminds me of Voltaire’s aphorism “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  Do not wait for the perfect answer, the perfect solution, go with what you’ve got because good enough is better than nothing, and nothing is what you get if you wait for perfect. Everything we can do is going to be slightly imperfect, “there is a crack in everything” but it is those imperfections that reveal our humanity and “that’s how the light gets in.” I love how he asserts that it is in our imperfections that we will save ourselves.

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Go For It!

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Sunset is still my favorite color, and rainbow is second

So, this is not one outfit, but pieces from two, or three if you count my shoes, outfits that I put together. The Nisha blouse is paired with a solid black flirty flip skirt and the Kenia pencil skirt is paired with an elegant halter top. I was immediately drawn to the pencil skirt. I always am, it is one of my favorite forms in fashion. However, as much as I liked the halter, I struggled to get it to work with the alpha cuts on my mesh bodies. I noticed the blouse and thought that the two prints would work well together and produce a more exciting, bolder look than each print alone with  a solid item. Luckily for all of us, DE.Boutique releases their items as separate pieces, even though they are in one outfit. This gives us the freedom to do our own thing.

I will confess I am a little in love with Deborah Vos and DE. Boutique even though I have never met her or even sent or received an IM from her. It is just that I liked this outfit (there’s a bit of a story there) so well, I checked out her Marketplace and found so many things I want, with that combination of sophisticated and classic style and bold, modern sensibility that is completely in tune with my aesthetic. DE.Boutique is completely new to me, a discovery at this month’s showcase event The Instruments that runs through October 6th. They have a new sim, so delete your old landmarks and Teleport to The Instruments‘ brand new home.

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One stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night

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one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night

“The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.”
― Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

The Instruments, a monthly themed showcase of Second Life fashion and design opened today.  I was instantly drawn to BYRNE’s Eternal dress. It’s a shape I like and I love batik fabric. It always make me think of my three housemates in college who were from Malaysia and their seemingly endless supply of batik sarongs. It seemed like the only thing they ever wore. They gifted me with beautiful sarongs, though I never got the hang of making them secure enough to wear rolling skating like they did.

I like the form of the dress as well as the fabric. The ruffles complicated finding poses, of course, but that happens with most dresses that have ruffles off the side. I do wish the cuffs had not been rigged. It is easier to adjust the cuffs than adjust the arm. Alphas hide the arm, but the alpha cut on the mesh body did not line up with the cuffs, so I had to play around with my shape. It’s not that big a problem, I always save a copy and then go back to the original that I never edit.
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and the sun wields mercy

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and the sun wields mercy
JUMO just released Arthuriana – a skirt and top combo in chocolate, oil, marsala, navy and violet The dress comes with a luxe wreath of gold and pearls, earrings, bracelets and a headpiece. However, I was inspired by the print  to take the outfit in a different direction.
and the sun wields mercyAs you can see, Arthuriana has Wow! factor aplenty with its design details such as the dramatic sweep of the skirt and drama of the cutout back.
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There is another sky

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There is another sky...

There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields –
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!                        …Emily Dickinson

There is another sky...

I love the sweater and skirt from ur favorite one (u.f.o.) for Collabor88. They come in a wide range of colors and have a hint of fall, but are still lightweight and open for summer. Perfect transition clothing for September. That big knit bow is perfection.
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